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I think I joined up

You know, unless they’re darned fancy, I never really think of socks as a “project.” I mean, they’re sort of peripherally always there, and I work on them when I’m walking, talking, waiting, flying, taking the bus, waiting for the subway… and they just… get done. I think of them like they sort of fall off me. I’ll turn around and whoops, there’s another pair. This last weekend I went to Knit City (what a lovely event, and such a gentle re-entry to the world of the working) and I had lots of time that I was travelling, walking, listening, waiting, and the very first three minutes I was on my way there I had one pair of socks all done…

Ditto, in fact, I bill myself as the slowest knitter in the world. When someone says this knitted object took two nights, I have to multiply that by Dotty time. Wish I could knit like you Yarn Harlot but I guess I’ll have to be satisfied to live vicariously and love that you can knit two PAIRS of socks in two days (I’ve had a pair on needles since last year)

I’m a moderately quick knitter, but I can’t finish socks in 2 days. Two weeks, if I’m pushing, sure. I tell myself that in addition to being a faster knitter, Stephanie must know people with smaller feet than I do!

The first pair looks like the ones that needed an “afterthought heel” on Sept. 27. I believe Stephanie had a post a few years ago dealing with a sock-in-a-day as a tough, but feasible goal. (She was making demo socks for a tv show.)

“Inventory of the UFOs”. I need, but really don’t want, to do that too. The numbers would have to be well into the teens. And then Steph shows us super-awesome-coloured socks and I think “should become a sock knitter”. Back away slowly!!!!

I only ever knit one project at a time. I find it works best for me. It keeps me motivated to not abandon a project, because only once it is completed can I knit the next amazing project. I am a very fast knitter so it doesn’t take long to move on to the next project.

Totally agree that socks aren’t really “projects”, at least in my own knitting universe, probably because most of knitting energy goes into my sweater designs, while socks are a utilitarian thing ( I mostly wear them in bed) that most people don’t notice.

Holy crap. That’s astounding. Thanks for finding that, Cara, both for the sheer entertainment value (the slo-mo voiceover part was very funny), and for the educational value (the slo-mo part was super helpful, and I’ll totally try modifying my technique).
Steph: I can now understand how socks could, in reasonable fact, fall off your knitting needles.

I love the yarn in both pair of socks! I knit my socks usually in the car, and haven’t touched the current pair in a long while. :/ Poor sock! I always go back to my sock knitting though, and finish. Right now I’m trying to get caught up with some Christmas knitting in the car, a hat to go with a shawlette that’s finished. 🙂 But those socks have been calling me!

Last night was the second class of Knitting 101. The first week we learned to cast on and knit. I worked before class to get a reasonably substantial knit stitch swatch done, because I was afraid everyone else would have a bigger swatch. Ha! Most of my classmates had barely started theirs! Last night we learned the purl stitch, and we’re supposed to show up for Class 3 with a swatch that is knit stitch one row and purl stitch the next row, for about 4 inches, so we will know if we have gauge before we start the class project, a hat. I’ve crocheted for so long it’s easy. Learning a new fiber craft is challenging, though I agree with Stephanie that anyone can learn. Even a sleep-deprived 59-year-old (as of last Monday).

They are simply striking, and to surrender yourself to Socktober is a lovely idea. I also know how important it is to take care of yourself during an endeavor such as this, so I dare say you’ve already won. You’ve warmed four feet this winter! How lucky are they?

Of course you should participate in Socktober! What a silly question! As someone has already mentioned, you could get an early start on your Christmas knitting. You might actually finish Joe’s before Christmas!

The fact that you will have a finished pair will speed you along! I always dread a second sock – especially if it is plain; however, when I do 2 at a time (toe-up always) the driving factor is the fact that when I weave in the ends I will have a finished pair ready to wear. Good luck!

My name is Lynn, I am a knitter but I have never knitted a pair of socks, there I said it!! What is wrong with me, I bought a black coat for winter so I thought I would brighten things up with a red scarf which I just started, my daughter is going to knook me a red hat to match.But I really want to knit socks when I see yours!! Must learn!

But turning a heel feels like magic. Just follow the directions, no matter how odd they seem, the first few times.
My latest on the go knitting is baby booties. I can knit a pair of those in a couple of days.

Things are falling off my needles, but not always in a good way. It seems the easier the stitch pattern, the more trouble I have. Tinking back a rib where every other stitch is K1 below is nerve-racking; it is impossible to simply drop down a few stitches to repair mistakes, at least for me. I did, however, complete a Find Your Fade in 4 weeks and a PEEP Show Shawl in 2 weeks, although neither have been washed ir blocked and the ends remain I woven in. And my two pairs of socks have been languishing for several months. I want to make a different pair instead!

In the Antipodes, we are zooming out of sock weather and straight towards it’s even too hot for undies weather. No socks on these needles!

Although, dear Stephanie, if you could be persuaded to write a blog post specifically on how you do those heels – they are so absolutely BEAUTIFULLY PERFECT! – I would probably be inspired to go a sock, even at mid summer! 🙂

2.25mm US size 1. Caution: If you’re buying needles in the US, look at the packages by their metric size. Some companies sell size 1 as 2.5mm. (Ask me how I know all size 1’s are not created equal.) 2.5mm is also sometimes listed as size 1-1/2.

Ack; you’re making socks look SOO attractive, but I have a Celtic Myths shawl I need done for the 28th, and a Virus I need by early November. Must…focus… (I also wish I wasn’t at the office and my latest sock was at home.) Sigh…

Love the colors on both, but I’m wondering how you got that little fringe-y color change on the 2nd pair. (between the yellow and green it’s most obvious but lovely) Slipped stitches?

I seem to have gotten away from socks (and knitting in general) lately. I bought some socks off of Amazon, and the whole enterprise just collapsed on me. And now, crochet seems to have taken over my crafting life again, as it does periodically. I learned that when I was very young, so it’s still somewhat of a cozy native language for me.

However, I futzed around a bit with a cocoon sweater idea and will see if I can make that work for me. (I confess that I may have inadvertently reverse-engineered a currently popular cocoon pattern without meaning to; it’ll be fun to see if it works, though.)

Glad you had a good trip to BC. Two very lovely pairs of socks. I wish I could get things to fall off my needles (completed, of course). Need cataract surgery soon. It has only been about 8 or 9 Years. They are not going anywhere fast. Hope all is well and that you are starting to find Stephanie. Hugs ❤️

I haven’t been doing socks… but I’m 1/2 way thru the body of the first christmas sweater, and have the center panel of next summer’s wedding shawl done… So I’ve been knitting… which is good… closer to “normal”. Which is what I think you’re saying with the socks… So good 🙂

Glad to see you socking it to the world! But I need help! I too do socks with great abandon, but what I need is a mitten month! Will you declare one for me??? lol I know it doesn’t get as cold here in Mid Coast Maine as in Toronto… but we still need mittens. I just think I’ll start a pair and whoops it has a heel and turns into a sock…. I am doing some other things…for Christmas. but I think mittens need a month too!

I tried knitting while walking, but since I have to pay close attention to where I put my feet and staying upright, it was a bit of a disaster. Knitting at the wheel of the car is frowned upon, too. 🙂 I think I’ll stick to my rocker.

This winter, sweaters will be falling off my needles. I have only ever knit one, years ago and it didn’t fit. I was terrified to knit another one. I am currently knitting Radiate by Joji Locatelli and am loving the pattern.

Socks are my go to comfort knits (like comfort food)… except for the last sock KAL which was nerve wracking because of such complicated patterns!

For me, it’s rolled brim baby hats that are always in the works. I can barely keep up with the babies! Friends of my daughters. Co-workers of my son-in-laws. Grandbabies of my friends. They just keep coming. I’ve made so many, that I don’t need a pattern anymore. It’s nice to have something that’s so quick and so familiar to fit into the small spaces of knitting time.

Hi, Stephanie! I’m the one whose husband of almost half a century died on the same day as your beloved Mum. Can it have been five weeks this afternoon? Like you, most of the time I’m becoming fine, but then out of the blue comes a wave of grief, and I need to sob wildly until it passes. Fortunately, I also have knitting, which helps, but I think I need to start a new project, to be tentatively called “My Missing You Sweater.”
Know that you are loved and cherished, though not as your mother did, but you are still cared about by a whole community of knitters. I pray it gives you some measure of comfort.

Not only do things NOT fall off my needles, but they often get lost on the way. I just found a pair of socks I’ve been making since I got the yarn at Rhinebeck the year before last (Bijou Basin yak yarn!). They were in a very safe place. I need to finish the toe section of the first sock, and then try like Hades to get the second sock done so I can wear them when I go back this year.

My feet are cold today for the first time in months so I am in awe of those socks. So glad you’ve turned a heel or four. October always makes me feel that I’ve turned a corner on the year, coming into the home stretch. I’ve avoided sock knitting for a time (aggravates my shoulder bursitis) but Socktober is calling to me and it sounds great.

Lovely socks! I only wish. I’m becalmed in the midst of a giant baby shawl, on a serious deadline, and with over five metres of knitted lace edging still to go. I yearn for socks. I pine for socks. I am ignoring everything else but this shawl. But ah, once it is done and November approaches? Nope, still no socks; then I’m finishing up an Aran sweater. But it’s all Knitting, so I’m OK with that.

I forgot about Socktober, but I am prepared…one sock done last night, second started on my lunch hour today. With another pair already planned (pattern, yarn and needles).
Have you tried the circular 9″ inch needle for socks? I’m trying it on my next pair.

I use a 9″ circ for everything but the heel and toe (top down). My most recent finished pair was Afterthought Everything Socks. One knits a long tube, inserting waste yarn where each heel and the toes will be. Then the heels are knitted, the pair is separated at the midline and the toes are done last. Perfect travel knitting: no loose dps to get lost in one’s seat or roll down the plane aisle; the fiddly bits (heels and toes) can be done while waiting on the next flight, or once one gets home.
I knit considerably faster Continental than English (actually, I’m a “combined” knitter, which should be faster yet), but I can’t manage anywhere near Stephanie’s speed!
Oh, good — I’m to touch the chair and not the cat — who’d be in my lap the instant I sat in the chair!

Did you know that Bloodhound drool can pit metal needles and take the varnish off wooden ones? The only time socks fall off my needles is when Frisco puts his 100# body in my lap. Hard to be angry when getting these sloppy kisses. Really hard to knit yarn stiff with drool.

Stephanie, reading your posts gives me hope. My mom has terminal cancer and most of the time I feel like my life will never, ever have any semblance of normal. Seeing you ease back into things that were part of your life before your mom’s death gives me hope that things won’t be bleak forever. Thank you.

As I pulled out the wool socks last night now with my floors being chilly, I was thinking it was time to get another pair on the needles. Socktober. My socks don’t just fall off my needles as quickly as yours do (maybe I should have started in July), I am thinking of Crazy Socks, combining leftover sock yarn to see what happens and keep my interest.

What is “socktober?” Lovely socks by the way, I have a pair I work on only during boring conf. calls. Thankfully I work from home — it’s ok for everyone to bring those silly fidget spinners to a boring meeting, but imagine if I walked in with my knitting!!!!!

I take my knitting to meetings, especially the big ones where you’re not expected to do anything but listen. People look at you oddly at first, but I figure it’s better than falling asleep during someone’s presentation!

Same here! I consider socks my “keep my hands busy while I’m figuring out what to REALLY knit” project. They also work great as a “what do you mean I have to be social?!?” project (aka security blanket).

My mother taught me to knit (and crochet, needlepoint, sew, etc) some 50 years ago when I was a little girl. I tend not to wear socks, except when the Canadian winter demands, which might be why I have only recently discovered knitting them! I feel this is a safe place to admit that, several pairs in, it’s still new and exciting.

Since it is new, I was scouting round the net the other day, looking for info on how — and how often — to block socks. Found a website I won’t name, but it was pretty informative at first, until….

*rant forthcoming*
Under the topic of how often, the author opined that you should wash your socks after every wearing because — wait for it — “feet are gross.” Not “your leaky mucking-out-the-stall boots are gross.” Not “your son’s 9-month-old gym shoes are gross.” Not “toenail fungus is gross.” Not even, “you stepped in doggy-doo, go wash your feet, ‘cause that’s gross.” No. Feet are gross. Categorically. What???

And I thought to myself, this is why women can’t get ahead in the world. How will we ever get past BS like “breasts are obscene,” if there are still fools ranting that feet — poor innocuous feet??? — are gross. Sometimes, I despair for humanity.
*end rant*

Steph, the color combination and stripes looks fabulous, i can imagine how fast you are. To me it will take 2 weeks to complete but you are amazing. Hands down for this pattern. Looking forward to have more posts like this.

I’m glad you’re back from your trip! and I love looking at your project pictures!

To me socks are more of “time fillers” for when I’m waiting or in the car (when DH is driving, of course!). I keep a pair of my “basic sock” on the needles in both cars and switch them out as they are finished. My “fussier” projects are the ones I keep by the couch.

P.S. I love self striping sock yarn…they make me look so clever to the non-knitters out there!

Hiya Stephanie. Thank you for your sock pattern. It’s the only sock pattern I’ve ever used and I think now after four pairs of socks only two of which have made it that I get it. While I knit socks these days I listen to Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery books. Have you read these I wonder? I’m American and since the election here, I have fallen in love with all things Canadian. I wish I could live in Canada. Anyways, I wanted to say that when I read Louise Penny’s descriptions of Three Pines I think of you and your life. Pretty idealistic I know – but I wanted to tell you anyways. It’s a cozy mystery series; comfort reading. I hope if you haven’t read it you will get some and be hugged by the people of Three Pines. They are your people.